Suikoden Tactics is a game that puts a different perspective on the events of Suikoden IV. Not only are you playing a different set of characters from that story -- but the gameplay style is also of a different genre.

The visual style of Suikoden Tactics translates the elaborate environments and character models well into the standard strategy RPG style found in games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files: Tournament Tactics. Locations like Razril's back alleys and port look just like their full 3D counterparts from the RPG game.

The game's sound follows suit with nice, relaxing background music and various sound effects for each of the attacks and moves that your characters can execute. The music is energetic and takes on an Asian tone at times and definitely does a good job of keeping your mind in the game.

Suikoden Tactics takes place at the same time as Suikoden IV. But instead of following Snoe and your character from that game, you take control of a small band of adventurers trying to find the secret behind a series of magical weapons called Rune Cannons.

Your main character is Kyril who has inherited the quest from his father who died when transformed into an unearthly monster by the Rune Cannons. During your quest, you will run into several characters and events that appear in Suikoden IV, but by no means is it necessary to have played the other game in order to have fun with this one.

Suikoden Tactics is, like I said above, a strategy RPG in the same vein as FFT and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Each battle is broken up into a series of rounds. Each round will have you moving your characters and attacking one at a time. But instead of simply moving from enemy to enemy attacking them from the side or behind, Suikoden gives you many other moves you can perform.

For instance, you can move next to another one of your teammates and talk to that person instead of fighting. This will typically increase the fighter's goodwill towards each other. If the two fighters have enough goodwill, then they will start to watch each other's backs. This means that you will see one teammate throw him/her/itself in front of an attack if they are positioned appropriately. Other actions you will see if the two characters like each other (which is essentially what the goodwill mechanic is) are characters joining in attacks and being able to execute powerful co-op maneuvers that will typically hit multiple enemies.

Other moves include using runes to either mark territory or attack opponents. If you use a rune, then the tiles that the move touched are then colored to that rune (purple for lightning, red for fire, blue for water, etc). These colored tiles will either help or hinder characters as they stand on them. These alterations typically include either a health boost or hit after the round is complete.

Suikoden Tactics has a gradual increase in difficulty. As you progress through the story, your party will change gradually, making you have to adjust your strategy slightly over time. That, plus the fact that you will face more and more powerful enemies with each battle, means that you will find the game getting harder and harder, but at such a gradual slope that you can easily get acclimated to the slight changes.

As for the game's A.I. or strategy, it never really gets tougher as you progress, and no character's AI seems to be any different than any others. In other words, a specific type of monster doesn't necessarily behave differently than another type. Short of the necessary differences between melee and ranged enemies, and the fact that some monsters have more defense than others, you can pretty much treat one enemy the same as the next.

Suikoden Tactics uses a very simple control scheme and menu system to move your characters and give them your desired commands. The menu's stay out of the way on the left side of the screen and are easily navigated with a flick of the D-Pad and X button. All of the commands from movement to attack to runes are logically grouped and arranged very intuitively.

Like most tactics games, Suikoden Tactics will deal out more damage if you are positioned to the side or behind the character you are attacking. If you try and take on an enemy face-to-face, they will likely dodge or counterstrike. This, plus the goodwill system that will allow other characters to help out attacked or attacking fighters, are what adds to a lot of the game's strategy.

Suikoden Tactics is a great game and anyone who was interested in Suikoden IV will love this game. Though it isn't the standard RPG like the past Suikoden games, it is still a joy to play and helps to expand on the universe used for IV.